Chapter Text
Kaveh cannot believe he agreed to this. He is dirt poor, gets maybe one commission every few months that usually ends up falling through because all these people want is to change and change and change whatever Kaveh draws up for them, he cant pay rent! Yet where is he? Hauling a heavy bag of clothes and one particularly large and ornate vase that he couldn't bring himself to sell, Mehrak is with him, carrying a piece of paper with Alhaithams address on it, Kaveh is taking this opportunity to carry his minuscule amount of belongings to remind himself just how horrible of an idea it is to live with Alhaitham, didn't he just say owing Alhaitham is the last thing he wants? now here he is, tired, poor, hungover, and about to owe Alhaitham a lot of money.
As Kaveh nears Alhaithams house he just about hurls, are we serious? he lives there? of all places? what kind of lunatic is this guy? To refurbish the old centre they used to conduct research for their thesis... ridiculous. Kaveh was already in a mood, but this?
Kaveh lets his bag thump to the floor, then gently places the vase down next to it. He stands at the front door, huffing out tired breaths. A small slightly mangled napkin slips out of his pocket, Kaveh lets out a sigh and picks it up.
The big circled "ALHAITHAM!!!!" on the napkin surrounded by little smudged notes, reminds him of his plan. Certainly a stupid plan, he thinks, but if he's going to be living with that buffoon he might as well TRY to get along with him, as much as Kaveh is dreading it.
Kaveh shoves the napkin back into his pocket. He kneels down and rummages through his bag, Alhaitham had given him a key yesterday, seems like he was confident Kaveh would say yes to his little proposal. Kaveh almost immediately attached a cute lion keychain to the large gold key, he thinks it looks charming, he's sure Alhaitham will think it's childish. He's sure Alhaitham will make sure to comment on just that.
Before Kaveh even has the chance to use his new key the door in front of him swings open, and there stands Alhaitham, it's still quite early in the morning so he's not quite sure what he expected but it was not this. Alhaitham stands a bit taller than Kaveh, he didn't notice before, Kaveh used to tower over Alhaitham back in the akademiya, the coffee in Alhaithams hand looks fresh, the steam rising slowly towards his face and for lack of a better word, damn. Kaveh has refused to look at Alhaithams face for a long time, yesterday he had only glimpsed his eyes, that turquoise he used to stare into, that he almost lost himself in, but now, taking in just how much Alhaitham has changed, Kaveh is feeling a lot of different emotions, in school Kaveh had always thought Alhaitham was a good looking guy, his soft features a stark contrast to his... vast and slightly indifferent personality, but now, that personality presumably still intact is starting to match his face, the soft lines have given way to sharp features and a heavy gaze, once Kaveh could've deciphered what that look in his eyes means, now it's anybodys guess.
And now is absolutely not the time to be gawking at his soon-to-be roommate. Kaveh snaps his eyes away from Alhaitham, he feels his face heat up a little bit, it's a warm day in sumeru city, that's all.
"Hello." Alhaitham deadpans.
"Hello..." Kaveh mumbles, gosh this is awkward.
Mehrak floats up to Kavehs shoulder, giving him a little nudge, he gives them a little pat on the head(?) and turns away from Alhaitham to address his toolbox.
"Mehrak, could you carry these inside?" Mehrak makes a few happy sounding beeps and picks up Kavehs things before scooting her way past Alhaitham, and standing by in the centre of what Kaveh assumes is Alhaithams living room.
Alhaitham steps aside and stares at Kaveh. He just stares, weird. Kaveh realises hes being invited inside, gosh what is he? a vampire? Why in the world did he just stand there. Kaveh shuffles his way past Alhaitham, he looks around the room, just as ill-decorated and bland as he expected, the place is littered with books; they're piled up on every possible surface, Kaveh eyes an empty bookshelf, why the hell would he own a bookshelf and not use it? Every door in sight is wide open, Kaveh bets it's for "efficiency". Though... the architecture of this place isn't bad, it seems the whole building has been reinforced and stylishly at that, theres intricate patterns carved into wooden beams and the layout is better for a home than Kaveh imagined, but that furniture... that... will need to be fixed.
A deep voice snaps Kaveh out of his thoughts.
"Your room." Alhaitham seems to have discarded his coffee mug somewhere while Kaveh was stewing, he points to an unsurprisingly, open door, inside is yet again, a pretty nice decent sized room with horrid furniture, the plainest chair Kaveh has ever set his eyes upon, a ridiculously tall bed, a disgustingly patterned rug placed ever so slightly off centre in the room, the face Kaveh makes is not unlike a grimace, but remembering his plan, he sucks it up, pasting instead a polite smile over the growing horror on his features.
"Ah, thank you, it's nice. I think im going to unpack and then... um..." Kaveh slowly slides into his new room.
"We can discuss your rent." Alhaitham adds.
Exactly what Kaveh was hoping to avoid, amazing, okay, exciting. He knows that its for the best though, as much as he dreads the extra debt, Kaveh knows he would dig a grave full of guilt for himself if he doesn't give Alhaitham proper compensation. Allowing Kaveh to live with him is a pretty big deal.
"Mhm..." Kavehs voice raises a few very inconspicuous octaves. "Sounds great... Mehrak bring my things please!" He calls out the door, immediately a small "beep-boop!" is heard before Mehrak makes a bee-line to Kaveh, Mehrak places Kavehs bag and vase down on his new bed, before going to float around the house, to survey, or perhaps they're just a little curious about the strange new surroundings.
Alhaitham watches Mehrak float away, he doesn't seem too bothered by their presence. Kaveh clears his thoat. "Ahem... I am going to unpack now"
Alhaitham doesn't move from the doorway
He really ticks Kaveh off, this plan is going to give him hell, how can he possibly be kind to that conniving, chiselled, kinda pretty, stupid face? "You planning to watch? I promise i didn't bring any weapons or anything into your house if thats the issue"
"Now im starting to think you did, Senior." Alhaitham says, a little different to yesterday, maybe colder, distant, like he's thinking real hard about something. Oh well, not Kavehs place to snoop. But what? Senior? Kaveh hasn't heard that in a while; is he being made fun of right now? he moved in like 5 minutes ago and he's already being made fun of? is this a "haha old bad memory" joke? No Alhaitham has no sense of humour. even something that dry is far above whatever he could possibly utter. Kaveh will take it with a grain of salt, Alhaitham is probably just so used to calling Kaveh senior that even after the last few years its just muscle memory, though Kaveh wishes he would never call him that again, it reminds him of when they were on good terms, when they could talk, when Alhaitham would make his bland attempt-at-humour jokes and Kaveh would bark out a genuine laugh.
That was a long time ago, Kaveh decides to put aside whatever that train of thought was and just stick to the plan, be nice, if Alhaitham wants old nicknames he will get old nicknames.
"Haitham," Alhaitham flinches a bit at the name.
"I'll be done with unpacking my things in a few minutes, please leave."
Alhaitham straightens up and nods, he walks away, to his room, Kaveh assumes. Kaveh turns into his new room, pulling the door shut behind him and starts unpacking his things, placing his pens and paper on a sloppily built desk in the corner of the room, hanging up his clothes, and delicately placing his vase in a particularly empty looking space next to the now semi-full wardrobe.
Kaveh stands, staring at the closed door to his room. Rent discussion awaits him. thrilling.